A Warmth in Winter
by Poofable
Summary: Jack Frost wants the world to be warm, even if it means suffering coldness in return. When that sanctity is threatened by the Man in the Moon's personal affairs, he and a believer dive into the most frigid adventure of their lives.
1. To the Thawing Wind

**A/N: **Oh man, what am I getting myself into...? Here's another huge chapter story.

Looks like I've got a lot of writing to do.

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**To the Thawing Wind**

"There is _simply _no other explanation—!"

"Let's not get into a barney over this; as much as I detest the yobbo—"

"Now listen, I can feel it. . . in my belly, we—"

Sandman waved his hands frantically, attempting to get his say into the frenzy. When he realized that nobody was listening to him, he crossed his arms and floated back, pouting.

_"Oh_, I don't know what else to think," cried Tooth, fluttering around the room. With her hands folded in front of her, she sadly looked at Bunnymund and North. Baby Tooth whined by her shoulder, her expression equally distressed. "This is all so confusing. I don't...I don't know anymore—!"

North turned towards the giant globe, which rested in the center of the room. One of his massive hands stroked his beard and the other was folded across his chest. He scrutinized the globe, as if searching for answers. He said, "I do not believe that Jack has caused this…but I'm beginning to fear that you are correct. There aren't many explanations."

"The boy may be a little on the rowdy side, but he hasn't ever done anything like this before," said Bunnymund. "And I don't think he ever will. There are other immortals, other reasons for this mess."

Sandman nodded furiously as he glanced back and forth between the other Guardians.

Suddenly, the doors to the room creaked. They slammed against the wall as they opened, and standing dead center in the middle of the doorway was Jack Frost. Before anyone could get their word in, he asked, "So how many of you believe the rumors?"

The other Guardians were all silent. Without a word, they watched Jack as he walked to the edge of their group. Tooth was the first to speak. "Oh, sweetie," she said, flying down close to him. Her eyes flitted side to side as she searched her mind for an explanation. "We don't believe a thing that the other immortals are saying. It's just that…"

"Yeah, yeah." Jack narrowed his eyes at Tooth, who was so startled that she backed away immediately. Next, he turned his attention to the others. "I thought I was a Guardian too. You're supposed to stand up for me. I practically have a bounty on my head."

North gave a great sigh. He angled his body so that Jack could see the globe. What Jack saw made his stomach drop, made his heart jump into his throat. The continents – all of them – were beginning to turn white. North America, in particular, was turning white faster than the others. The paleness spread like wildfire, starting at the west coast and reaching the east in a matter of seconds.

"You control the ice, the snow," said North, giving another long exhale. He approached Jack, and then he put his massive hand on the boy's shoulder. "Tooth, Sandy – we _all _believe you. But the other immortals are turning on us already. We cannot keep shoving aside their accusations."

Jack backed away, pushing North's hand to the side. He accusingly glared at each individual, silver eyes flashing. When Tooth attempted to flutter towards him again, he slashed his staff across her path, creating a wall of ice. Tooth went, "_Eep!" _and swiftly recoiled, her expression a mixture of sadness and horror.

"How can I be causing this when I'm standing right here?" asked Jack, almost helplessly. Suddenly, his face became wild again, and the Guardians witnessed a side of Jack that they hadn't seen in several years. None of them tried to walk towards him again.

Jack felt frustrated, aggressive, and even a little betrayed. He couldn't help it; his friends were implying that they wanted to turn him in. He turned away, pushing his white hair from his face.

"I—I have to go," he said. "I'm going to fix this. You'll see. Then you'll know that I didn't do it."

Giving them one last helpless look, Jack sprinted from the room. He wound through corridors and hallways, not even stopping when Tooth called his name from behind him. When he reached an open window, he lifted himself onto the sill and launched himself into the sky, letting the wind carry him away from all of his problems.

The wind carried him far, but there were only so many places that he could go. Long after the sun had set and the stars had appeared, Jack landed in what he liked to call "who-knows-where-land" and collapsed onto the roof of the building.

With his knees pulled up to his body, Jack buried his head into his arms. A car alarm, loud and flashing, distracted him. He glanced up, and then his shoulders fell with hopelessness. When he stood up, he saw a frozen wasteland all around him.

The city was dark and empty, and what little light remained hardly illuminated the snow covered streets. Every corner and alleyway was submerged in layers and layers of snow and ice, and not a single breathing piece of evidence walked the streets.

This weather might have been the result of a freak storm somewhere up north. _But it isn't_, thought Jack, horrified by the deserted city he saw. _This is happening everywhere. People are losing power, children are going hungry. And everyone thinks that it's my fault._

He had provided a school of children with one snow day...or five hundred throughout his lifetime, but he had never allowed his powers to create a world that was so…_void._ He wasn't nearly _that _mischievous. Besides, this was no joke anymore. People had died. And that wasn't what he was about.

Jack wanted there to be life, to be _fun_ and _games_ for everyone all around.

Abruptly, there came a little chirping noise in the pocket of his blue hoodie. Confused, Jack tilted his head to the side and stuck his hand into the pocket. He pulled out a small, tweeting hummingbird, who cheeped and buzzed in protest.

"Oh, Tooth is going to kill me," he said, holding a crying Baby Tooth in front of his face. He let her go, and she let out a wispy sigh in relief. "I imagine you're on the naughty list now, you little stowaway," he told her, half-firmly. "Trust me. I would know all about it."

In response, Baby Tooth peeped some more. He cupped his hands and she made herself comfortable in his palms. She turned to the frozen city ahead of them, and then she gave a long, "_Chirruuupp."_

"I know, Baby Tooth, I know," said Jack, sitting down at the edge of the rooftop and letting one of his legs dangle over the edge. "Out there, somewhere, is someone who's in charge of all of this. I don't know what their intentions are. But I didn't do this. There's no way I could have…could have covered the whole world in ice."

"_Cheep~"_

Jack stared flatly at the hummingbird. "No need to be sarcastic," he said. "I do snow days and snowball fights, not apocalyptic catastrophes."

"_Cheerip."_

Jack sat there for a long time, looking at the world. Eventually, Baby Tooth yawned and crawled into his pocket, shivering until he covered her with his hand. She soon fell asleep, and Jack was left alone with his thoughts and the blame on his shoulders. Though the world was comfortable and peaceful when it was just him and the moonlight, he had grown to love being believed in.

"I don't know what to do," he said to the snoring Baby Tooth, not expecting an answer.

He sat there for a moment, dangling his legs back and forth and wishing he could be invisible to the world again. Then, Jack glanced at his staff; it may have been whole (thankfully), but his heart felt like it was broken into two pieces.

"The Guardians don't believe in me, but you do and so does a whole world filled with children," he said, sighing. He stood up, clutching his staff in one hand and keeping Baby Tooth warm with the other. "I waited three hundred years to be wanted. There's no way I'm going to let some stupid snowstorm ruin that for me."

* * *

"We're losing cows by the day, June."

June glanced up at her father, whose once gruff beard and stern eyebrows were covered in snow. She thought he looked ridiculous, like half snowman, but she didn't say anything. She set another log down on the broken tree stump, stepping back so that her father could swing the axe down without any distraction.

"The shelter is keeping them decently protected," he continued, "but they're running out of food. We have to heat their water so that they can drink. The calves that were supposed to be ready for next season have dropped. The business is falling apart. And it's getting colder every single day."

_I already know this, _thought June, eying him as she reached for another log. _THUNK. _She gave him another one, and as she waited for him to swing, she bundled herself in her coat and breathed into her mittens. _THUNK._

"If this keeps going, we'll have to declare bankruptcy in a matter of weeks. Your brother can't afford that. We need to be able to pay for his medication."

"We'll just have to make it through," she said, even though she knew nobody was going to do just that. For a moment, she turned away, staring into the white void that used to be rolling plains filled with her farm's grazing cows. Her father cleared his throat, and she hastily handed him another log, muttering, "Excuse me."

There was an awkward lack of words between the two, most of it filled with her father's labored grunts as he struck at the wood. June looked off into space again, and thoughtfully, she said, "I wonder what's caused all of this mess, anyway."

She only caught tidbits of her father's mumbling, "…Something those goddamn…scientists…they can't even explain it…some _scientists_…"

There was a stir of movement near the western fences. June became alert, her body straightening as she struggled to make sense of the shadowed blur. From what she could tell – through the snowfall, that is – there was a figure standing on one of the fences, walking back and forth. The figure repeated its pacing, and then it disappeared behind half a mile of snowy air.

"Dad," said June. She glanced at him. "I think one of the cows is caught on the fence. I'm going to go check it out."

Without waiting for her father's response, June began shuffling through the thigh-high snow. She waved her arms back and forth, pushing on and on until she reached a dip in the snow where it was easier to walk. Then she broke out into a stumbling run.

"It seems like everywhere I go, I run out of leads," said a voice, which belonged to a male. Then there was a frantic yell, "Baby Tooth, do _not_ touch that, that is a _cow—"_

"What are you doing?"

June stood there, breathing, her gloved hands limp at her side. She had spoken before she had seen, and now that she was looking, she caught a glimpse of white hair and pale skin. Still breathing hard, she gave the boy a once-over. Absurdly, the one thing she remembered when she finally looked at his face was that he was barefoot and was balancing on the three-inch wide fence line without any problem whatsoever.

"What are you doing?" she repeated.

The boy glanced at her over his shoulder. "What are _you_ doing, standing out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"This is my family's land," answered June. "I live here. _You're_ the one who's standing out here in the middle of nowhere, wearing nothing but a jacket and some…" She paused, staring at his legs. "…cloth leggings."

"Maybe I'm not cold," said the boy. June blinked as a hummingbird fluttered out from behind him, cheeping and whining in his ear. He gently swatted the bird away, and then he spun around – almost like he was sliding on ice – on the fence. That's when June realized that he wasn't standing on it…he was _floating_. "I bet you're cold, though. The snow has been falling for, like, eight days straight now."

June was too stunned to say much.

"Hey, maybe you can help me," the boy said. With his hands in his pockets, his skipped forward a step and floated towards her. "You haven't seen any suspicious characters around here, have you?"

"Um," said June. "_You."_

The boy held out his hand. Hesitantly, she took it. She quickly realized that his touch was cold and slick as ice, even through her gloves. "My name is Jack Frost," he said. As they shook, he mischievously grinned. "Now I'm not so suspicious anymore, now am I?"

_Jack…Jack Frost,_ thought June._ Like the legend._

"What…are you doing?" June repeated for the third time. The situation was so bizarre that, well, she didn't know what else to say. "This is my family's land. We own cows. We have our own business. There's no reason for you to be out here."

"Baby Tooth and I are looking for suspicious people," said Jack, gesturing towards the little bird. There was suddenly a dark expression in his eyes. "This whole snowstorm isn't normal. You probably knew that, already. And there's someone, or _something_, out there that's causing this. I'm trying to find out what's going on and put an end to it."

June thought of the dying cows, of her family's failing enterprise, and her brother…her brother, who was bedridden and unable to get up. "You're going to stop the snowstorm?"

"Exactly."

Baby Tooth went: _Peep!_

_"_But..." began June. "How?"

"Well, we don't know yet," said Jack. "But we're going to figure it out along the way. The source of this power has to be coming from somewhere. This isn't a freak storm that's blown down from the North. Continents all over the world are experiencing this. Places that are hot are getting cold, and places that are cold are just getting colder."

June's house hadn't had power in days, so her family hadn't been able to watch the news recently. She couldn't believe that entire _continents, _not just the United States, were experiencing this.

"We're about to leave," said Jack. He sheepishly ran his hand through his hair. "Sorry about trespassing and freaking you out. It's just that there's a strange amount of magical energy coming from this area. We were looking for a source, and we still have some exploring to do. We aren't finished here yet."

"Then I'm going with you," said June. The words had come from her before she could stop them, but she knew that she couldn't stand around and watch her family suffer. She knew she couldn't allow _any_ family to suffer anymore. Before Jack could interrupt her, she added, "I'm not going to hold anyone back, I promise. But you _have_ to let me go. Please."

Jack stared at her. He and Baby Tooth shared a glance. The small hummingbird gave another _peep_ and shrugged. The spirit went right back to staring at June. "There's going to be danger. And you can't fly like we can. You'd definitely slow us down…" After some of Baby Tooth's chirping, Jack nodded and rubbed his face. "Yeah, you're right, Baby Tooth. Hey, how about this?"

"I'm listening," said June breathlessly.

"Most humans can't see us," said Jack. "Actually, most _adults_. Wait, how old are you?"

"I'm sixteen."

"Wow, you're a little old…" Jack shook his head and got back on topic. "Most people can't see us, because to do that you'd need to believe in us. And, well, _you_ can see us. If we brought you along, you could ask around for information from humans. None of our fellow spirits have a clue as to what's happening. They think I'm the one who did this. So we need to start small and work our way up."

June nodded furiously."I'll do anything that you ask me to."

Jack tilted his head, observing her carefully. "What's your name?"

"June Lupo Kennedy," she responded. "I'm sixteen years old and I'm a junior in high school. My hobbies are being with animals and reading books. I love my parents and my brother more than anything else in the world. I can't stand the cold, and I'm ready for this stupid snowstorm to be over with."

Jack Frost smirked. "Alright then," he said. "Welcome aboard. Are you ready to get started right now?"

June turned around. Her father, who was nothing but a smudge of gray, was still chopping wood. She knew that there would be no turning back once she took this stranger's hand; but there was something extraordinarily magical about him, and she knew that even though he couldn't be trusted just yet, he could be the only solution to saving her family and the farm. Taking that chance was necessary. Gulping, she nodded. With all of the courage that she could muster, she said:

"Let's go."

**End**

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**Other Notes**: Thanks for reading the first chapter! Reviews/follows would be INCREDIBLY appreciated.


	2. Neither Out Far Or In Deep

**A/N: **I finally got my crap together and know what I want to do with this story.

This chapter has been written for MONTHS and I just now got around to posting it. xD

Enjoy!

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**Neither Out Far Or In Deep**

"Good morning, June! How are your parents holding up?"

June knew that going to the local diner, which was surprisingly still open despite the three-foot drifts of snow right outside the door, was a terrible idea. In this town, everyone recognized everyone; even though she was setting out on a journey to stop the snowstorm and probably wouldn't return for a while, she knew that her father was going to find out she was here.

She nervously smiled at the waiter, Michael, who had been friends with her family for years.

"They're doing just fine," she said. She was trying to keep her eyes lowered and focused on the menu, but Michael's eyes were boring down at her and she was getting more anxious by the second. "I can't believe that the diner is still up and running. Are you guys still getting customers?"

"Of course we are," said Michael. "We've had worse snowstorms before. Our folks are hardly fazed. They can get places just as easily as any other winter. Our real problem? The snow doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon. And if it doesn't, _then_ we'll be out of customers. People are starting to lock themselves up in their homes and are refusing to come out."

"Oh, right," said June, clearing her throat. Above the menu, she saw Jack Frost and Baby Tooth. They were relaxing in the corner of the booth, not even worried that anyone was going to see them. "I think I'm going to have…two sausages. Um, some scrambled eggs. And I'll take a side of hash browns, too."

"You got it," said Michael. He walked away.

June released the breath she'd been holding. "We're gonna have to get out of here as soon as possible," she said beneath her breath. Jack was casually having a toothpick-sword-fight with Baby Tooth. "My dad knows I've disappeared. He's going to find out I've been here. What if he shows up and takes me home?"

"You're the one who wanted to get something to eat first," said Jack.

Annoyed that he was right, June turned her head to the window. "Aren't you scared that someone will see you?" she asked.

"No, not really," said Jack. He exclaimed, _"Aha!" _as he triumphed over Baby Tooth, who wailed and continued to battle against Jack's toothpick. "To adults, I'm nothing but an urban legend. I've lived for hundreds of years without knowing what it's like to be believed in. At this point, I might as well be nonexistent. Kids, on the other hand, can see me just fine."

June frowned. "Hey, I'm not a _kid," _she said, "if that's what you're implying!"

"Hey, I never said you were," said Jack. He wasn't looking at her, but she could see his smirk.

Not exactly sure how to respond to that, June leaned back against the squishy booth chair and crossed her arms. Outside, the snow was still falling, although much more calmly than usual. No matter how much she enjoyed watching the snowfall, she couldn't help but be bothered by Jack's earlier words: "There's someone, or something, out there that's causing this."

_Who could it be? _she thought. _Humans couldn't cause a natural disaster like this._

She knew that this was no human being's doing, but she was being forced to consider the impossible. Two hours earlier, she hadn't exactly believed in spirits and magic. _Or did I? I was able to see Jack when he was standing on our fence. I mean, I've always heard the stories from my mom, about beings like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny…have I really believed in those stories all this time?_

"So why did you want to come with us, anyway?" asked Jack. June looked up at him in surprise. "I mean, I never really asked why. You said you wanted to come, and I only considered how useful you would be to our search. I didn't consider that you would be leaving behind a family or anything like that."

June watched as Michael walked by and set her plate down on the table. She smiled at him, but she didn't speak. When he left, she started pushing her food around her plate with a fork. Suddenly, she didn't feel so hungry anymore.

"I told you that my family has a business," she said. "We raise livestock. But the cold has been getting to our cows. They're dying off by the day, and the business is suffering. My parents make a lot of money, but we don't live too comfortably. Most of that money goes to paying for my brother and his sickness. He has some heart problems, and this year he was going to get a transplant. We don't know if we'll be able to afford that anymore."

Jack's eyes widened a fraction of an inch. "Oh," he said. "Dang, I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry for," said June, "unless you're the one who's causing this snowstorm."

"And I'm _not," _said Jack. His already pale fists whitened as he clenched them. He was trembling. "I wouldn't do anything as stupid as this. Whoever's doing this…he…or _she _is turning everyone I know against me. Everything that I've ever worked for is _gone_, just like that. The Guardians…they…"

Around his fists, the table was beginning to freeze. Tendrils of white frosts danced along the woodwork, shaping small and intricate designs. June could only watch in fascination. In a desperate attempt to calm him down, she quickly said, "And we're going to stop them, no matter what, right? Come on, don't lose your cool before we get started…"

"_Chirp!" _said Baby Tooth. She threw aside her toothpick and placed both of her tiny palms on Jack's hand.

The spirit let out a frigid, shaky breath and nodded.

As his eyes averted, June watched him for a minute. With his white hair, silver skin, and cerulean eyes, he was most definitely the strangest looking person that she'd ever seen. She couldn't imagine that he was born like that – were spirits _born? – _and even if he was, what did his parents look like? Did he have parents? What about a family? Surely, he had friends. He had Baby Tooth, after all, and earlier he had mentioned that everyone he knew was turning against him.

_Everything he's ever worked for… _she thought. _Gone in a moment. What's he been working for? And when he brings it up, why does he look so sad? Who and what are the Guardians?_

She finished her food and pushed the plate away. "You said that there was a lot of magical energy coming from this area," she said, trying to get his mind to focus again. "What does that mean?"

"It's exactly what it sounds like," said Jack. "Spirits, like me, can sense when there are others nearby. We've got to take a look around here to see if we can find someone else. Sure, there are possibly hundreds of spirits that could live here…but I'm not the only one that can control winter weather. If there's a small chance that our culprit…or someone who _knows_ our culprit…is in this area…well, we can't risk losing track of them."

He no longer looked angry, just determined. June nodded. "Then we should go as soon as possible," she said. She had no idea what she was getting herself into. _Spirits…hundreds of them…_

June started slipping into her multiple jackets. She noticed that Baby Tooth was trying to fit herself into Jack's dark blue hoodie, and she figured that it probably wasn't the most comfortable place for the hummingbird fairy. "Here, Baby Tooth," she said, opening up one of her fleece lined pockets, "you can stay in here if you like. It even buttons shut, and you won't have to worry about falling out."

Baby Tooth went _"Eep" _and there was no competition after that. She leapt from Jack's sweater and buried herself into June's pocket. June took the liberty of snapping the button, and she smiled when she heard a pleasant sigh from inside.

June left most of the money that she had. She counted the bills and exhaled through her closed mouth. And then, because she didn't know how else to handle the situation, she quickly scribbled a note on a napkin:

_Michael,_

_If my dad comes by and asks about me, I swear that I'm fine. I'm not running away, and I haven't been kidnapped. There's something important that I need to do, so don't come looking for me. I'll be home as soon as I possibly can._

_Love,  
June_

"Let's go," said Jack, who looked like he was trying to not notice the note.

"Where are we going?" asked June as soon as they were outside.

"The energy is getting weaker as we speak." Jack, as usual, wasn't bothered by the cold at all. He jumped into the air and stood on a telephone pole, his flattened hand covering his eyes from the sun. Looking down at June, he called, "We're going to need to go that way! I think the spirit is moving right now, so we're going to need to catch up!"

June ran down the sidewalk, even though lifting her legs was a struggle. She wished that she could fly like Jack could, but that wasn't really an option for her. Baby Tooth stuck her head through an opening in the pocket and chirruped. "Sorry for the ups and downs, Baby Tooth," apologized June. "I know that I'm not exactly the smoothest ride."

Jack effortlessly leapt from telephone pole to telephone pole. Every now and then, he would call out a random direction and June, without any hesitation, would listen and go that way. She had just gotten warmed up when Jack flew down beside her and came to a screeching halt in the snow.

They were standing near an electric fence, which was surrounding a huge field that probably belonged to one of the farmers in the town. There was a black and maroon sign that read: _No trespassing. Violators will be prosecuted. _But Jack wasn't planning on going over the fence. He was walking alongside it. Next to his bare feet were strangely shaped footprints that kept going for a while.

"This is the spirit that we've been following for a couple of days," explained Jack. "The storm was so bad that the signal was muddled and we weren't able to trace him correctly. But now that it's calmer, we can finally see where he's been hiding out at. He's still pretty far, though…"

June was determined to keep up with Jack. She shoved past him and started following the footprints, taking care to not disturb them with her own shuffling. "Come on, then," she said breathlessly. "We have a spirit to catch."

Jack float-skipped next to her. "You're not hungry anymore, are you?"

"Not even a little," huffed June.

"Don't get too worked up," said Jack, taking on a more serious tone. He was staring straight ahead. "I don't think that this spirit is too strong. There's a good chance that he or she might be working for someone much more powerful. We're getting closer, but the magical energy is still subtle. I doubt that this one could create a real blizzard, much less a snowstorm that could take over the entire world."

June was slightly disappointed, but she shouldn't have been. _What was I expecting? We defeat the spirit, save humankind as we know it, and then I return home before the dinner bell? No…this is going to be a much bigger investment than I thought. _

They power walked-slash-floated down the fence line. Eventually, the electric fence slanted in a long curve, bearing towards the left. Up ahead, there was a giant hill with a single, withering tree at the peak. And someone was standing beneath it.

June hurried even more, and even Jack seemed to be moving with a greater sense of urgency. When they got close enough to distinguish the person's shape, June stopped and squinted.

"That's not…"

"No," said Jack. "That's no human."

The spirit was the size of a child, but other than that had no resemblance to a human being at all. His ears were pointed and were covered in short, brown hair near the tips. His eyes were huge and the pupils were unnaturally dilated, and he had a strange, deer-like nose. The spirit was snuffing at something on the ground. A few moments later, he pulled away, snorting and shaking his head.

June wrinkled her forehead. "What the—?"

"Wait…that's not a spirit, either." Jack took a careful step closer, holding his staff tight. Suddenly, he shied away. "No, that's a—!"

The creature glanced up and started to shriek, his cries resembling that of a wounded animal's. He began flailing his arms wildly. Suddenly, his entire body exploded into a whirlwind of glowing white snow.

"_No!" _yelled Jack, hauling himself at the wind.

He was too late. The gale of snow swirled around the withering tree and then disappeared into the gray sky. Jack floated in the sky. With heaving shoulders, he watched the wind completely dissipate before he let out a frustrated sound and then lowered himself to the ground.

"That wasn't a spirit," he confirmed as June ran up to meet him. Biting his lip, he lifted his leg to kick the tree, but he stopped himself before he did. "That was only an imp…probably here to do someone's dirty work. Every spirit has helpers." He started muttering to himself, "North has the yetis, Tooth has the fairies…but an imp? Who on earth has _IMPS?_"

"Well, there can't be many spirits to narrow it down to, right?" asked June helplessly.

"Yeah, you'd think so," said Jack, "but the world's a big place, and Manny is a funny guy." He peered into the sunlight, his lips drawn and tight. "Come on, you two…we should get moving before you guys freeze to death."

With another defeated sigh, he turned around and started walking away. June could only trudge after him, her skin chilled and her heart feeling worse. For some reason, even though she knew Jack Frost was the spirit of mischief and snowy weather, she distinctly sensed that Jack Frost's lonely heart was feeling much colder than her own.

**End**


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